Warren and Schiff Demand Removal of Musk’s Operatives from CFPB, Citing X and Tesla Conflicts of Interest
“Americans deserve a CFPB that will continue to stand up against corporate greed—not an agency shut down by officials looking out for themselves,”
“Mr. Musk is … neutralizing the pro-consumer agency that will supervise X’s digital wallet… potentially gaining access to confidential corporate data that could provide X with an unfair advantage.”
“The CFPB plays a critical role in supervising the auto lending industry and protecting consumers from corporate malfeasance and scams. Therefore, actions by Mr. Musk and DOGE at the CFPB also have the potential to directly benefit Tesla—and by extension, Mr. Musk.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), led a letter to Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Russ Vought, and Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, demanding the immediate removal of Elon Musk's “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) staff that are currently embedded in the agency. Musk’s involvement with DOGE threatens to undermine consumer protections, particularly in the rapidly evolving digital payments sector, where Musk’s new digital wallet and payment platform are set to directly benefit from weakening the CFPB’s oversight.
“Americans deserve a CFPB that will continue to stand up against corporate greed—not an agency shut down by officials looking out for themselves,” wrote the senators. “With that in mind, we once again ask that you remove Mr. Musk’s operatives from the CFPB, restore all internal and external systems and operations, and allow the CFPB to continue to do its job of protecting American consumers.”
As the head of DOGE, Musk has been involved in efforts to undermine the CFPB’s authority and regulatory power, especially in the context of the growing digital payments industry, which his company is directly involved in. Musk’s purchase of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and its move to introduce digital payments—backed by a partnership with Visa—places him in a position where his actions at DOGE may directly benefit his financial interests. The CFPB has increasingly focused on regulating digital wallets and payment systems to protect consumers from fraud and exploitation. The agency’s ability to enforce these protections for consumers is now in jeopardy, with reports indicating that Musk’s operatives have accessed sensitive CFPB data and systems, potentially gaining an unfair advantage over competitors in the digital payments space.
“[T]hrough his efforts at DOGE to target the CFPB, Mr. Musk is actively undermining an agency directly responsible for supervising—and if necessary, disciplining—his company’s new P2P system,” wrote the senators. “Mr. Musk is not only neutralizing the pro-consumer agency that will supervise X’s digital wallet—he is also potentially gaining access to confidential corporate data that could provide X with an unfair advantage over its competitors.”
The Senators raised similar concerns about Mr. Musk’s conflicts of interest with Tesla. Writing that “The CFPB plays a critical role in supervising the auto lending industry and protecting consumers from corporate malfeasance and scams. Therefore, actions by Mr. Musk and DOGE at the CFPB also have the potential to directly benefit Tesla—and by extension, Mr. Musk.”
In the letter, Senators Warren and Schiff called for the removal of Mr. Musk’s operatives from CFPB and transparency on the extent of Musk’s involvement with the CFPB, demanded clarification on how Musk’s actions comply with federal conflict-of-interest rules and sought information on whether appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure that his personal financial interests do not interfere with CFPB operations.
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